Trolley-wheel



c. E. LIEBENBERG.

TROLLEY WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, I920 Patnted Sept. 27,1921.

I N VEN TOR.

' (Zm's'z 0171 17. [1139519225613 /5 ATTORNEYS of cotter pins 14 or other UNITED STATES I orrnisrmir E. Linnnnnnns, OF ESSINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

TROLLEY-WHEEL,

' Application filed -Tuly 22,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIANELLDEBEN- BERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Essington, county of Delaware,and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new against longitudinal movement by a cotter pm 14 extendlng through the flanges of one and useful Improvements in Trolleyheels, of which the following is a specification.

y invention relates to trolleys or other contact members such as are used in connection with electric streetcars, and has for its object to provide a strong andsimple construction of the type in which the contact member proper is combined with a guard which isnormally inactive, but when the said member comes off the power wire,'beccmes operative to keep .the contact member in the neighborhood of the wire and facilitate its restoration to normal position.

A satisfactory and preferred embodiment of my invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

In said drawings Figurel is a side elevation of my improved contact member in conjunction with a power wire; Fig. 2 is an inverted plan View thereof, the wire being omitted; Fig. 3 is a detail'view of certain parts, viewed in the direction of the arrow 3 in Fig. 1, but showing the springs in a dilferent position; and Fig. 1 is'a partial cross section, substantially on the plane indicated by the line a4 of Fig. 2. J

10 designates the trolley pole and 1l.the harp at the upper end of said pole, it being understood that these parts are pressed upwardly by the usualspring (not shown). The upper end of the harp is made with a double fork, that is to say, it has a left-hand fork member and a right hand fork member spaced therefrom as shown in Fig. 2, and each of these fork members comprises an upper arm 11 and a lower arm 11", with an opening 11" between them. With the upper end of each arm 11 and of the companion arm 11" is connected a boss or hearing 12, extending outwardly from the left-hand and right-hand fork member respectively, and provided with axially-alining openings in which are journaled trunnions 13. By means suitable devices, these trunnions are connected with the side members of a trolley wheel carrier and guard, As shown this part of the structure is made of two similar sheet-metal members 15 and 16, bent into channel-shape so as to Specificationof Letters Patent.

vmembers 15 and 16 are to turn on the axle 18,

. pivot axis of the carrier 15, 16.

- the side members Patented Sept. 27, 1921.

1920. Serial No. 398,113.

have parallel flanges 15 16 res ectivel and having their ends bent p y, a sorew-and-nut connection 17. The members 15, 16, have transversely-alining holes to receive an axle 18, held against turning and of saldmembers. Adj acentto this point, the substantially parallel (see Fig. 2) and between theseparallel portions extends the trolley wheel19, mounted and adapted to engage as at15, 16" for i thepower wire A. 7 Between the axle-l8 and I the connection 17, the guard and carrier members 15, 16 are much farther apart, soas to come outslde the bosseskor bearings 12.

Attheir free ends, the members 15. 16 diverge or flare outwardly from their parallel portions, as indicated at 15*, 16. I

The entire carrier 15, 16 with the wheel 19 18511113 mounted to turn relatively to the harp 11 about the axis of the of the trolley wheel 19 being eccentric to said On a transverse pin 20 located near the base of the harp 11 are coiled two springs 21 located between of the harp, the adjacent or inner ends of the springs engaging the carrier 15, 16, while the other ends of the springs engage the harp (although of course the arrangement might be reversed) with a tendency to cause the free ends of the car nor to swing upwardrelatively to the harp.

The power of the main spring (not shown) actuating the trolley pole is sufiicient to overcome that of conditions, sition indicated by full lines in Fig. 1, the carrier 15, 16 in that position being below the level of the wire A and of the uppermost portion of the wheel 19.

Should the wheel 19 come off the wire A, the springs 21 will swing the carrier 15, 16 upward on the pivot 13 to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, (see also the position of the springs 21 in Fig. 3) the up per flanges 15, 16 coming into engagement with stop shoulders 11 formed on one or both of the side members of the harp. In this position, a portion of the members 15, 16, and particularly the diverging free ends thereof, 15, 16, extend not only to and above the level of the power wire A, but even above the uppermost portion of the wheel 19, although the latter itself is raised sufiiciently to bring its center about level with the power the springs 21 under normal so as to keep the parts inthe 'pobearings 12, the axis 1 wire. By this arrangement, the wheel 19 will be kept in the neighborhood of the wire A, and it will be easy to restore the parts to the proper operative position.

At 22 I have indicated means for securing to the harp, a contact plate 22 adapted to engage the wheel 19 on one side, said plate passing through one of the openings 11 Any other suitable means may be employed for making a good electrical connection with the trolley wheel 19.

vThe distance between the pin and the bearingpoints of the springs on the united end members of the carrier increasing as the latter swings upwardly, causes a rapid variation of the pressure of the springs on the carrier. By this means the shock or impact as the carrier is stopped at either end of its movement is reduced to a minimum as the springs can be made of nearly sufiicient strength to counterbalance the main spring actuating the trolley pole when in normal position, while, as the pressure of the springs rapidly decreases as the guard swings upwardly the latter is not swung violently against the shoulders 11 of the harp. Furthermore the relatively high pressure of the springs on the guard :at the initial upward movement thereof insures of a quick response to offset any downward movement of. the trolley pole.

While I have illustrated my invention in connection with a currentcollector or contact member consisting of a trolley wheel, I desire it to be understood that other forms of contact members (such as the wellknown shoe) may be used instead.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described, a harp having a forked end, a carrier and guard pivoted on said harp, a trolley wheel carried by said carrier and guard, a spring arm attached to the harp and bearing in said carrier and guard and urging the same upwardly, the point of engagement of said arm with said carrier and guard increasing and having their main bend thereof, a pin fixed'in and extending between the forked members of the harp, at a point between the pivotal axis of the carrier and guard and the said united end thereof, .a, spring coiled around said pin and hearing at one end on said end of the carrier and guard and normally urging the latter upward.

3. In a device of the class described, a harp having a forked end, a carrier and guard comprisingha pair of side frame members pivoted in t e forked end of the harp lengths substantially horizontal and having downturned forward ends united under the said harp whereby movement of the carrier and guard in a downward direction is limited by engagement of said united ends with the harp, a trolley wheel carried by said carrier and guard, said horizontal members of the guard being 'inturned toward one another adjacent the rear of the forked end elements of the harp, radially projecting shoulders formed on the said forked end elements of the harp and adapted to, engage the said inturned parts of the carrier and guard to limit upward. movement thereof, and means normally urging said carrier and guard upward.

In-testimony whereof I have aifixed my signature.

GHRISTIAN E. LIEBENBERG. 

